Daniel Salzler No. 1218 EnviroInsight.org Six Items September 8, 2023
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- Virtual Meeting/ Aquifer Water Quality Standards Rulemaking. ADEQ is holding virtual meetings to discuss the status of the aquifer water, quality standards (AWQS) rulemaking. We will examine what AWQS are, and why ADEQ is completing this rulemaking now, and what the AWQS process is if substantial opposition is or is not received.
Aquifer Water Quality Standards Rulemaking
Date: September 11, 2023
Online? Register via GoToWebinar
On June 30, 2023 rulemaking docket was opened for the adoption of drinking water maximum contaminant levels (MCL’s) as AWQS. Since then, we have developed a standardized approach for reviewing drinking water MCL’s for the classification as an AWQS, and has made the determination to adapt the following seven MCL’s: arsenic, bromate, chlorite, microbiological contaminants, halo acetic acids, total trihalomethanes and uranium.
To learn more, visit our AWQS rulemaking webpage.
2. Researcher Finds Inspiration From Spider Webs And Beetles To Harvest Fresh Water From Thin Air.The proposed freshwater generation systems are inexpensive, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly.
Date: August 28, 2023 Source: University of Waterloo
Summary: A team of researchers is designing novel systems to capture water vapor in the air and turn it into liquid. They have developed sponges or membranes with a large surface area that continually capture moisture from their surrounding environment.
A team of researchers is designing novel systems to capture water vapour in the air and turn it into liquid.
University of Waterloo professor Michael Tam and his PhD students Yi Wang and Weinan Zhao have developed sponges or membranes with a large surface area that continually capture moisture from their surrounding environment.
Traditionally, fresh water for consumption is collected from rivers, lakes, groundwater, and oceans (with treatment). The current technologies Dr. Tam is developing are inspired by nature to harvest water from alternative sources as the world is facing a serious challenge with freshwater scarcity.
“A spider’s web is an engineering marvel,” said Tam, a University Research Chair in the field of functional colloids and sustainable nanomaterials. “Water is efficiently captured by the web. The spider doesn’t need to go to the river to drink, as it traps moisture from the air.”
Similarly, Namib desert beetles have no easy access to water but acquire water from thin air by leaning into the wind to capture droplets of water from the fog with their textured body armour. This allows the moisture to accumulate and drip into their mouths.
Tam and his research group are engaged in biomimetic surface engineering for sustainable water harvesting. One technology Tam is designing is called atmospheric water harvesting. To mimic the beetle’s unique surface structure, Tam’s research group is designing a similar surface structure using a cellulose-stabilized wax emulsion to fabricate surfaces that attract tiny water droplets while swiftly releasing larger ones.
Tam is working with net zero carbon materials, such as natural and plant-based materials, to develop sustainable technologies. His research group is developing technologies that capture and repel water droplets by harnessing the power of interfacial science and nanotechnology. He has successfully developed superhydrophobic and waterproof paper. He is also engineering a smart and tunable surface that captures water from the air and dehumidifies it with minimal energy consumption.
The next step is to develop a scalable process to engineer such surfaces.
Solar evaporation systems directly harvest solar energy, absorbing water and generating fresh collectible vapour through evaporation. Unique mushroom structures inspired the smart biomimetic structural designs for solar evaporation.
The proposed freshwater generation systems are inexpensive, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly.
In a recent publication in Nature Water, Tam and his team discuss several promising new water collection and purification technologies. Source: Science Daily
3. Recycle Aluminum Cans And Get Paid To Do So. It takes about 24 aluminum cans to make a pound. Clean aluminum cans will pay you $0.40 a pound. Dirty aluminum cans will only pay $ 0.10 a pound. Source: https://www.scrapmonster.com/scrap-yards/prices/phoenix/208
4. Defending Biodiversity
Defenders Winter 2022
Addressing the current biodiversity crisis will require transformative social, political and economic changes.
Currently, only 15% of the worlds and and 7% of the oceans have some degree of protection and about a million species are threatened with extinction. About 30% of the planets land and oceans must be protected by 2030 to address the alarming collapse of the natural world, according to the growing global scientific evidence.
In North America, nearly 3 billion birds have disappeared since 1970. Development has degraded or destroyed nearly three quarters of terrestrial areas and two thirds of the marine area, threatening some of the more than $9 trillion worth of ecosystem services provided by nature each year in the U.S and Canada alone (half of the U.S. GDP), according to the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Since European colonization, the contiguous U.S. has lost more than100 million acres of wetlands, and over 1,600 American plants and animals need the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Source: Defenders magazine
5. Lake Mohave Water Levels Dropping To Help Endangered Fish. Water levels at Lake Mohave are expected to drop about 10 feet in the coming weeks to improve habitat and spawning cycles for two endangered fish species native to the Colorado River system.
The annual fall drawdown of the reservoir is part of an ongoing effort by the federal government to restore populations for the boneytail chub and razorback sucker, the National Park Service said in a news release.
The razorback sucker is native to the Colorado River basin and
was listed as an endangered species in 1991. Populations are currently in decline throughout the Colorado River basin and have decreased markedly during the last two decades in the lower basin, particularly in Lake Mohave.
The surface of Lake Mohave will go from its current elevation of roughly 643 feet above sea level down to about 633 feet by mid-October. Water levels will start to tick back up starting in November and return to normal by mid-January.
Park service officials emphasized that the process is not related to long-term declines in water levels at the Colorado River’s two major storage reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
Boaters should use caution during the drawdown, officials said, as there may be new obstacles in areas that were previously passable. Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal.
6. Key Learnings From Stockholm World Water Week.
BC’s attendees highlight three themes during this international forum
Dr. Carla De Las Casas, Dr. Tess Sprague, and Dr. Patricia Whitby
World Water Week is the leading conference on global water issues. A non-profit event, co-created with leading organizations in 1991, World Water Week works to develop solutions to the world’s greatest water-related challenges. Conference topics range from climate change, food security, water security, and health to agriculture, water stewardship, technology, and biodiversity.
This year’s conference was held online and in person in Stockholm, Sweden during August 20-24th. The theme Seeds of Change: Innovative Solutions for a Water-Wise World, invited participants to rethink how water is managed.
World Water Week tackled some big questions this year such as: which ideas, innovations, and governance will be needed in a more unstable and water scarce world?
Brown and Caldwell’s conference attendees highlighted the following three themes with the potential for significant impacts to our collective water security and resilience.
World Water Week Theme: Inspiring Innovation
From exploring new ideas for improved outcomes to inspiration for better ways to manage our resources, across the world there is a plethora of innovation occurring with the goal of securing a better water future. During the conference, innovative perspectives shared ranged from public-private partnerships and water financing to innovative policy. Innovation can take many forms. Beyond technology, sessions focused on innovative methods to inspire improved governance, new funding mechanisms (i.e., tariffs, taxes, transfers), and creative financing to bridge the gap. Even if all these innovations can be implemented, it will not be enough if we do not accelerate our pace.
Innovative solutions to water challenges should be sustainable, equitable, cost-effective, and climate resilient. These approaches and solutions result in a net positive and enduring change for the benefit of our environment and our communities.
Solutions should incorporate our relationship with nature and improve governance strategies. Working with nature’s resiliency and the environment, instead of against it, has the potential to result in more efficient and effective outcomes with fewer resources.
To explore innovative solutions and facilitate evidence-based decision-making we need accessible and standardized water data. Digital technologies facilitate modeling, monitoring, and management of water resources in real-time and more effectively optimizing water use and reduce freshwater consumption. As more facilities implement digital water solutions, the industry must develop and adopt best practices to securely store and share data in ways that enable model advancement, improve water use and treatment, and inform capital planning.
World Water Week Theme: Fostering Collaboration
Collaboration among key stakeholders is a cornerstone for impactful outcomes within a watershed. Having the foresight to approach water solutions with awareness of the downstream impacts of waterways requires collective action. The bottom line? Taking a holistic view, like that of our 1Water approach, and innovative solutions with the entire water cycle in mind, results in the most sustainable and enduring solutions for our environment and communities.
Addressing our watershed challenges requires collaboration between the public and private sectors to achieve impact at scale. We’ve seen the value of successful public-private partnerships in action, from restoring water systems to recharging groundwater. Collective action is needed to establish water security, water independence, and allow protection of our environments.
Reimagining our economic, governance, and financing frameworks will be key to creating better synergy and enabling partnerships. As we look to realize better water solutions and outcomes, we need new approaches in alignment with political and financial systems. This forward-leading approach can promote new levels of water stewardship for businesses and our communities.
Collaboration should bring together technical, social, and process innovations. The days of old-fashioned, siloed thinking are behind us. Collaborative, innovation ecosystems are creating a new paradigm where members from various organizations collaborate for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders. This kind of collaboration uses technology and a community-based approach to identify and tackle complex problems by bringing together corporations, governments, academia, policy makers, utilities, and start-ups for positive outcomes. This generates more impactful, holistic solutions that apply innovation across sectors and with communities to overcome our challenges.
World Water Week Theme: Accelerating Water Action
Climate change and water are intrinsically linked. As often stated, “if climate change is the shark, water is its teeth.” The time is now to accelerate progress, commitments, and actions for improved water quality, quantity, and availability. It’s going to take collective action to repair the global water crisis we have triggered. If we get it right, we can tackle the water crisis and climate change while also reducing community vulnerability and inequality.
Current global investments in water are not enough to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 and to address climate impacts. According to the UN World Water Development Report 2023, progress toward all targets is off-track and in some areas the rate of implementation needs to quadruple or more. Water use is projected to increase by 1% per year through 2050. Without prioritization of water investments, water scarcity, stress, and availability have the potential for disastrous global impacts on our communities and environments.
Funding progress requires working at different scales with multi-stakeholder cooperation across sectors and borders. Cooperation from creative funding to water-related investments has been shown to improve water governance and decision-making, stimulate innovative solutions, and leverage efficiencies. Water is undervalued, hence stimulating sustainable funding starts with reframing how returns on investment will be met.
There is no one-size fits all solution. The right solution is empowered by actionable data and rooted in the needs of the community. As collaborative water actions gain momentum, evaluating water and watershed investments to systematically evaluate these opportunities will result in predictable, measurable outcomes. Our communities will be better served if we listen to their needs first. We need to listen to the Indigenous perspective and leverage their ancestral knowledge. As Dr. Milika Sobey said, “People thrive on respect, reciprocity, and treating everyone as equals.”
What’s Next?
World Water Week is one forum of global collaboration focused on advancing solutions to the global water crisis. As stewards of water, we are continually looking for ways to improve our use of this finite resource on behalf of our communities. Engaging in the global conversation in Stockholm and other international forums such as the United Nations’ Water Conference and the recent Water Environment Federation’s ‘Circular Water Economy Summit’, is one way we are advancing the conversation. As water professionals, we have a role to move from ambition to action. Source: Brown and Caldwell
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